


Cursed Love

by Nikki_Chaos



Category: The Originals (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Original Character(s), Other, Ratings: R, Romance, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-03-15 05:01:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3434519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikki_Chaos/pseuds/Nikki_Chaos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>1000 years she has lived cursed, never remembering who she really is.</p>
<p> 1000 years lost inside her own head, lost from the one man whom she has ever loved</p>
<p>Will she be able to break her curse and be reunited with the family and husband she left behind, or is she to forever walk the earth alone and unloved?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Dream

**Author's Note:**

> First story posted on here and I promise it will get better as it goes along, a lot of drama and angst and all that juicy stuff. Please let me know what you think. I'd appreciate it greatly.

**1000 years ago (give or take a few years)**

The sun was low in the sky casting an orange glow on the small clearing nestled in the woods, the torches burning brightly around a circle carved into the woodland floor leaving a small trail of smoke in the air. At the head of the circle stood two people, both in their late forties, the woman was tall, slim, with long blonde hair that trailed down her back like a river and bright brown eyes alight with secrets, her name was Esther. Next to her stood her husband Mikael, he was tall, muscular, his dark blonde hair brushing his shoulders and his blue eyes alight with anger as both he and Esther stared at the man and woman who lay huddled at the base of the circle their Son and daughter by marriage.

The man and woman were complete opposites in appearance, where the man was blessed with light brown curly hair, the woman's hair was as black as the night sky and fell to just below her waist. The man had light blue eyes and the woman was graced with brown eyes with gold flecks. Where the pair was different in appearance, they were twins in the one problem that brought them to this circle, which caused Esther and Mikael to interfere in stopping the pair.

"You are monsters" Mikael spits at the pair

"You brought this upon yourselves" the woman replies, her breaths labored by the vervain in which Mikael forced down her throat to subdue her "You made us all into vampires to sate your pride"

"Yet you and Niklaus took it upon yourselves to kill"

"Father" Niklaus breathes, his breath just as labored and painful as the woman next to him, he too having been forced fed vervain "Myself and Nicolette did not ask for this"

"Save it Niklaus" Nicolette breathes placing a timid hand on her brother in laws arm "He does not care"

Niklaus nods slowly and looks over to the side of the circle where more bodies lay, their necks snapped by Mikael as they tried to interfere. Laying there was Niklaus's younger siblings Rebekah and Kol as well as his older brother and Nicolette's husband Elijah. The only sibling of Niklaus's missing was Finn; no doubt he knew what was happening and decided to not interfere.

"What are you going to do with us" Nicolette asks, her brown eyes set firmly on Esther

"I am going to correct my mistake" Esther breathes "Neither of you two can live, it is a crime against nature"

"And us being vampires isn't" Niklaus asks

"But you are not vampires" Mikael snarls "You are abominations"

Nicolette and Niklaus both lower their heads as Mikael's words flow over them. Each of them thinking of the mistake that brought them here. They had both killed a human in their hunger which in turn had activated a part of both of them that they did not know existed. A werewolf side, Niklaus having his from his mother's indiscretion with Nicolette's tribe leader and Nicolette getting hers from her mother. As the life had drained from the humans in whom the pair had fed, they became something more than a vampire, they became hybrids. The king and queen if you will of both species.

"We have to end your reign of terror now before it starts" Esther proclaims "I will bind Niklaus' werewolf side so that he may never activate it"

"And me" Nicolette asks, her head still bowed to the woodland floor

"You are going to suffer a fate much worse" She hears Mikael boast, the smugness radiating from each word

"You have taken more human life than Niklaus" Esther starts and Nicolette looks back up at her mother in law "So for that I am going to kill you, and when you awake you will be human, in which you will live a long life and when you die the cycle will restart again"

"What?" Nicolette breathes

"You will live for all eternity as a human, not once knowing who you really are. Not once knowing true love or true happiness."

As Esther finishes her words she begins to chant the torches burn higher as loud screams begin to leave Nicolette's lips, her body falls forward onto the ground and blood begins to pour from her mouth splattering the floor which each scream. Nicolette feels the life drain from her and with her last ounce of strength she looks up at Esther and Mikael.

"I hope these decisions haunt you for the rest of your days. I hope that with every kill your family undertakes you feel the pain of it. One day I will return to whom I truly am, and I will make sure that you regret ever doing this to me…"

The remaining words are cut off by Nicolette's coughs, blood covering her hands as she stares at the woman who has caused her this pain, the woman who has no heart and will cause her family suffering to benefit her own game. Niklaus crawls to his sister in-law and pulls her into the cage of his arms, soothing words passing his pink lips as tears roll down his face.

"We will find you" Niklaus vows "No matter the time, we will find you"

With one last shuddering breath Nicolette Mikaelson breathes her last breath as an immortal.

**The Present (** **Set in The Orignal's Season one** **time-line** **)**

Nicole 'Nikki' O'Connell shoots up in bed, the covers falling to her waist as she takes large breaths to calm herself. She runs a shaky hand through her sweat drenched hair and thinks back on the nightmare she just had. It had felt to vivid and so real, each cough feeling as though it came from her own chest and mouth.

"I need a drink" Nikki mumbles and stands from her large bed and walks towards the doorway

She pulls open the door and pads barefoot towards the stairs and down them, as she's walking towards the kitchen she feels another presence behind her.

"Yes Cami" she sighs looking over her shoulder briefly

Her older cousin leans against the doorway separating the kitchen and the lounge, her blue-green eyes glued intently onto Nikki, her long blonde hair pulled back out of her face and her arms covered with a thick wool cardigan that Nikki is almost positive is hers.

"You okay?" she asks kindly

Nikki nods as she grabs a glass walking over to the fridge

"Peachy"

Cami watches her youngest cousin guzzle down water as though its the first drink she's had in years, concerning flickering across her features as she takes in the younger woman's disheveled appearance. In most terms Nikki was a sight for sore eyes, she was well built, toned with curves in all the right places twenty two year old. She had brown eyes with gold flecks that many a man could get lost in, long jet black hair that brushed against the middle of her back and lightly tanned skin. But as she stood in front of Cami with her hair drenched in sweat as well as the rest of her body Cami could tell something was wrong.

"Want to try that again?" she asks Nikki

"Just a bad dream cousin, nothing major"

Cami nods and walks back into the lounge and over to her work space, Nikki following her and settling down into the chair near the fire. Nikki snorts slightly as she looks over the messy paperwork littering the coffee table before looking up at her cousin.

"Still no where near finished on your thesis?" she asks gently before taking another sip of the water in her hand

"No" Cami sighs "It seems the closer i get to being nearly finished something comes up and changes the whole direction"

"I'm sure you'll get there in the end" Nikki smiles comfortingly "And your other endeavor, hows that going?"

"Nowhere, Uncle Kieran isn't exactly being forthcoming with information"

"I knew he wouldn't" Nikki shrugs "Uncle Kieran believes things should be dealt his way and his way only"

"I wish he wouldn't, i mean this is my brother at the end of the day" Cami sighs running a stressed hand through her hair before looking up at the younger woman observing her from the other chair

"We'll get your answers cousin, i promise" Nikki promised vehemently before rising from the chair still gripping the glass of water "I'm off back to bed, i've got the early shift at Rousseau's"

"Night" Cami smiles before turning back to her paperwork

"Don't stay up too late cousin" Nikki sighs before turning on the ball of her feet and heading back up to her room.

She shuts the door silently and paddles back over to her bed placing the now warming water on the bedside table before climbing under the cooling blankets. A small soft sigh leaves her pink lips before she closes her eyes drifting back off to sleep.


	2. An Old Face

It had been two days since Nikki had endured the dream of what she could gather was a past life, either that or she had one hell of an active imagination. Things since then had returned to normal, she worked at Rousseau's when she was shifted to, sometimes doing the early shift whilst Cami did the late shift or she did the late and Cami the early. The two of them where the only female bartenders left after Jane-Ann had died a few days earlier, neither of the cousins knew what had happened to Jane-Ann, she had been fine the last they saw of the girl. But the cousins were quickly learning that asking questions was out of the equation, not many people liked to voice their opinions on things, instead liked to live in the knowledge of not knowing something that happened right under their sniveling noses.

 

What made it worse was Jane-Ann’s sister Sophie worked at Rosseau’s as well in the kitchen as the cook, every day the cousins had to see the pain she was in, even underneath the facade Sophie wears every day. Nikki knew Sophie better than her cousin, due to her living in New Orleans longer but she didn’t know Sophie that well, she knew her and her sister Jane-Ann had a lot of secrets. Secrets people like Nikki had no place knowing.

 

“Are you sure about this” 

 

Nikki sighs and places the last bottle on the shelf before turning to see her cousin leant on the bar, a pleading look in her eyes. She was going on a date and wanted her youngest cousin to rescue her. Nikki would have laughed and done just that if it wasn't for the fact that Cami hadn't been on a date in almost a year and Nikki was concerned that the poor girl had forgotten how fun they could be.

 

“Go, yes he may be a bad boy but you never know you might enjoy yourself”

 

“I know but..” Cami sighs

 

“No buts Missy, i can cover your shift here, god knows i have nothing better to do” Nikki shrugs “Just go and have fun”

 

“Okay just one date” Cami nod's, her resolve caving under her cousins glare “And i promise i’ll take your shift on Saturday to pay you back”

 

“You do that, now go and have some fun” Nikki laughs “If you’re back before me, stay up and tell me all about it”

 

The two cousins hug before Cami leaves the bar and Nikki chuckles turning back to cleaning the glasses humming along to the jazz song playing softly in the back ground.

 

“A whiskey when your ready love” A British voice sounds from behind her a couple of minutes later.

 

Nikki sighs steeling herself for dealing with a foreigner and grabs the tumbler turning around and placing it in front of the guy without looking at him and reaches over to grab the whiskey and pours it into his glass.

 

“Will that be all” she asks kindly, her eyes trained on his shoulder.

 

It wasn't that she hated foreigners but ever since she moved here two years ago they were always the ones that hit on her, leered at her as though she was a piece of meat. She could handle herself but no woman needed to know how strong a man could become when his ego and a shit ton of alcohol was involved.

 

“I’d like to see the face of the girl who is serving me” he replies with a smugness to his voice that only the British could produce.

 

Nikki lifts her head and her brown eyes lock on a pair of dark blue eyes that widen slightly as they stare back at her. She breaks the eye contact and looks over the man in front of her, he was defiantly British, he had pale skin, fair colored hair a strong jaw and a sense of danger pouring from every pore of his body. As Nikki continues to stare she realizes she had seen his face before, two nights ago in her dream. She takes a startled step back and begins to breathe heavily.

 

“Are you okay Nikki” Sophie asks rushing over to where Nikki is stood.

 

"Yeah” She nods steeling her breath “Just a sharp pain in my head. It’s probably nothing”

 

Sophie looks over at the younger girl and then over to the man sitting at the bar, she knew who he was of course but she just couldn't help but wonder why seeing his face had caused the girl in front of her to drop ten shades of color in her face and her breathing to become so erratic Sophie was scared that Nikki was about to have a heart attack.

 

“If you’re sure” Sophie says deciding to drop the issue and instead keep a close eye on the pair “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me”

 

Nikki nods and thanks the older woman before reaching over for a new glass, she pours herself a scotch and downs it quickly. Once the bitter burn fades from her throat she looks over at the man again to see him watching her silently, his eyes taking in every one of her movements, if it wasn't for the fact she’d seen him in a dream she would have thought it creepy, but then again creepy seems to be the main item on the menu recently.

 

“Sorry about that” Nikki sighs deciding to be the one to start a conversation, he’d never come back if he thought one of the bartenders was crazy

 

“No need to apologize love” he replies his lips lifting a little at the side “You can’t predict things like that happening”

 

“I might have lied a little to Sophie” she shrugs earning a chuckle from the man “Its just you look like someone I've seen before”

 

“Likewise” he replies before downing his whiskey

 

Nikki reaches over and fills his glass before walking down the bar to where another patron is waiting and serves him.

 

The rest of the night is passed in orders, drunken men and Nikki watching the man out of the corner of her eye discreetly. He doesn't make a move to talk to her again and she doesn't to him, she just serves him his drink, or replaces the whiskey bottle and carries on with her duties. He leaves just before the bar closes leaving $300 on the bar to pay for his tab, as she watches him walk out the door she lets out a deep breathe and leans back against the bar.

 

“You sure you’re okay” Sophie asks coming over to Nikki as the last few patrons dwindle out

 

“I’ll tell you in a minute”

 

The two of them kick out the rest of the patrons and as Nikki locks the door and turns to look at Sophie she sees the woman leant against the bar pinning Nikki with a look that leaves no room for argument. 

 

“I had a dream the other night” Nikki begins

 

“What kind of dream” Sophie asks

 

As Nikki tells Sophie about her dream and about how the man at the bar was featured in it she watches Sophie’s face closely and can see fear pass over the woman’s features as she stares back. Once the tale is finished Nikki throws back her glass of scotch and waits for Sophie to say something.

 

“That isn't possible?” Sophie murmurs more to herself

 

“Tell me about it” Nikki sighs and cleans the glasses

 

“Stay away from him Nikki” Sophie pleads grabbing Nikki’s hands “Him and his brother are bad news”

 

“I wasn't exactly going to shack up with him Soph, after all it was only a dream”

 

“I know but please promise me”

 

“Fine i promise, i’ll stay away from him and his brother, whoever the hell his brother is”

 

Sophie nods accepting Nikki’s words and the two of them work in silence to clean the bar before closing up and leaving for the night. As Nikki walks back to her and Cami’s apartment she can’t help but feel as though someone is watching her. She speeds up her walking and almost falls into the apartment due to the force in which she opened the door. Once she’s locked the door she turns and screams as she sees Cami stood there.

 

“Nikki?” Cami asks concerned.

 

“Long night cousin, i’ll tell you about it in the morning, same as wanting to hear about your night”

 

“You sure”

 

“Yeah” Nikki nods and walks over to give her cousin a hug “Night Cuz”

 

“Night”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END NOTE - Not a big fan of this chapter but it kind of wrote itself. SO yeah i know it's shit but please let me know what you think.
> 
> AND ALSO THROW ME SOME IDEAS. LIKE DO YOU WANT NIKKI TO HAVE ANOTHER MEMORY THROW BACK, REMEMBER SHE'S BEEN CURSED FOR A 1000 YEARS SO SHE HAS A LOT OF MEMORIES, MAYBE A MEMORY OF HER AND ELIJAH.
> 
> REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW GUYS. REVIEWS MEAN I UPDATE QUICKER.


	3. The Masquerade Ball

Nikki finishes putting on her shirt for the day before a knock comes to her bedroom door before it opens to reveal Cami in the doorway with a fresh cup of coffee in her hand.

"So are you going to tell me about the long night?" she asks lifting a perfectly sculptured eyebrow

"Just foreigners, you know how i hate them" Nikki replies grabbing the coffee "now enough about my night. How was yours"

"It was okay, it didn't go too well but he said he'd make it up to me"

"Oh that's thoughtful" Nikki replies sarcastically "Who was it you went out with again"

"Marcel Gerard"

Nikki stops breathing as she looks over to her cousin, she knew who Marcel was, you'd be an idiot to live here and not know who he was. Nikki herself hadn't had many run ins with the guys but she'd been to enough of his parties to know that something wasnt right with him. She was just grateful that she went home on her own from each of them, the company he keeps isn't the best kind.

"Nice. He's a looker" she replies instead, noticing a small spark in her cousins eye. Who was she to damage it.

"Yes well he can be as charming as he wants, he wont get my full attention just yet"

Nikki chuckles and follows her cousin out of the bedroom and into the living room, the two of them drop down into the couches waiting till it was time to leave for their shifts,Nikki wasn't supposed to be in but Sophie had decided to call a sick day so Nikki was called in to do the cooking. As though she didn't have enough things to do as it was. Luckily though Marcus was coming in to the do the afternoon so Nikki only had to cook for so long.

Once their coffees are finished the cousins finished getting ready before walking to work, the two of them joking about their dating history, Nikki herself had dated some funky characters and had to be rescued by her uncle Kieran or cousin Sean on one too many occasions.

The two cousins separate as they enter the bar and the time passes quickly for them both. Marcus comes in on time and takes over from Nikki and she walks over to the bar where Cami is speaking to another blond.

"You done for the day?" Cami asks seeing her cousin drop into the chair next to the woman she was talking to.

"Yep"

Cami nods and hands her cousin a whiskey as the blond turns to look at Nikki, luckily Nikki nor Cami were watching as they would have seen the blonde's eyebrows disappear into her hair as she looks over at the black haired woman.

"Nicolette" she whispers

"Excuse me" Nikki asks only hearing the beginning of the name

"Nikki isn't it" the blond recovers, praying the woman was oblivious to the previous name she spoke

Nikki goes to ask how the woman knows her name but remembers that her name tag is pinned to the front of her top.

"That's me" she replies "And you are"

"Rebekah" the blond replies holding out her hand

Nikki shakes it and looks over at the woman to see she could be no younger then herself but seems to carry herself in a way that seems a lot older. Her accent also reminds Nikki of the man from last night and can't help but wonder if the two of them know each other.

"I was just telling Cami here about the party i'm invited to tonight"

"What party"

"Its thrown by some philanthropist, big sort of guy but can throw a mean party. I have two spare invitations and was wondering if Cami would join and well now you"

"If anyone would attend a party it would be Nikki" Cami laughs refilling Rebekah and Nikki's glasses

"What are you trying to say about me dear cousin?" Nikki smirks lifting an eyebrow

"The two of you are cousins" Rebekah asks cutting into the conversation

"Well i'm adopted, Cami's mums sister adopted me when i was only a few days old. My birth parents had left me at the hospital" Nikki shrugs

"But she's grown up with me her whole life so as far as i'm concerned she's my cousin" Cami shrugs

"Same here" Nikki nods

"Well that's wonderful" Rebekah smiles "So what do the two of you say to the party?"

The three girls discuss the party before Rebekah leaves to make a phone call, the cousins start planning what they will be wearing with Nikki already planning how she was going to do her hair. A long time ago she had dreamed of being a hairdresser but had never gotten around to being so. Life getting in the way of her dreams would be the right way of putting it.

Once Cami's shift is over the two cousins head home and straight into their showers as they begin to get ready for the night, once washed Nikki heads into her room and pulls open her wardrobe and looks through her dresses, she had a lot of nice dresses because she used to attend a lot of parties.

Remembering what Rebekah said about it having a loose masquerade ball feel Nikki pulls out a black floor length dress with gold flowery detail embroidering on the corset top, the bottom was kind of poofy but made it so that Nikki could actually walk. She lays the dress on the bed and grabs a black masquerade mask off the shelf, she had a lot due to the festivities thrown in New Orleans but had yet to wear the black one, it had the same gold embroidery as her dress so was a perfect mix. She also grabbed her favorite black pair of heels to give her some height.

She beings to do her hair throwing it up into an elegant up do leaving some of her tresses framing her face to add an air of mystery before beginning on her make it, she decides to leave it light, thin layer of foundation, clear lip-gloss and gold eye shadow to match her dress.

Once finished and ready she leaves her room and walks into Cami's to see her just pulling on her dress, a white one that Nikki had bought her a few years ago for Cami's birthday. She also notices the wings on the bed and chuckles as she realizes Cami will look like a ray of innocence tonight.

"Zip me up" Cami asks noticing her cousin in the doorway.

"If you'll zip me up too"

Nikki zips up Cami's dress and then turns so Cami can do the same. Once done she places her mask on the bed and grabs the wings helping Cami into them before picking up her mask again.

"Oh crap i don't have a mask" Cami sighs

"Good thing i do"

Nikki walks from the room and into hers and grabs a white mask before meeting Cami in the hallway, the mask she handed over worked well with Cami's dress but unlike Nikki, Cami would have to hold it over her eyes.

"Ready?" Cami asks

"Let's go party" Nikki replies

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The minute the cousins walk into the party they know it was definatly an over the top party to show how much money someone had, but Nikki could also tell with the right amount of Alcohol in her system she could enjoy herself. After walking for a while she sees Rebekah walk over to them.

"Hello darlings, you both look precious" she replies

Nikki smiles as she watches Cami look around at the activity, a dancer on ribbon above their heads catches Nikki's attention so she doesnt hear the words spoken until someone else comes to stand near them. As she looks she notices that its the man from the bar last night.

"He's the brother actually" the man replies "And my sister is right, the two of you do look stunning"

"You clean up pretty well yourself" Cami replies earning a chuckle from Nikki

"Oh don't be fooled love, i'm the devil in disguise" he smirks and Nikki almost believes there is a lot of truth to that statement.

"You three chit-chat, i need booze" Rebekah comments before walking off/

"Shall we" the guys asks holding out his arms for both Cami and Nikki.

He walks them over to a bar and they order a drink before looking over to another one to see Rebekah talking with Marcel.

"The guy Rebekah was talking about, i'm sensing that would be Marcel"

Nikki having no clue what they are discussing throws back her scotch before ordering another one.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Ancient history" he replies throwing a smirk at Nikki who raises an eyebrow

"I'm beginning to think your sister is a bit of a bitch" Cami says to the guys face earning a laugh from both him and Nikki

"It's as though she invented the term" he replies

"How lovely" Nikki drawls sarcasm riddled in every word

"Listen" the guys begins but as Marcel walks over changes his words "Pardon me for a moment"

Nikki watches as he walks off and Cami and Marcel drift into a conversation and sighs before ordering another drink. After a few drinks she notices Marcel and Cami dancing and wonders whether to head home.

"Left on your own"

She looks to the side to see the guy is back and ordering a scotch.

"Normally happens, i'm not big on extravagance" she shrugs

"I noticed" he smirks

"I didn't catch your name the other night" she ponders deciding she is fed up of calling him, the guy

"Klaus" he smirks holding out a hand

"Nikki" she replies placing her own into his

"Lovely name, i take it it's short for something"

"Nicolette" Nikki sighs "But it sounds old so i just go by Nikki"

He nods and Nikki sighs before Marcus walks over and engages her into a conversation, soon the two of them drift onto the dancefloor and out the corner of her eye she notices Klaus walk back over to Rebekah and the two of them observe Cami and Marcel. She ignores it and finishes her dance with Marcus before he excuses himself.

She looks around to notice Cami stood on her own and follows her line of sight to see Marcel arguing with a guy on the level above. She walks over to Cami just as Klaus gets there. She places her hands in Cami's and smiles encouragingly as Cami squeezes it.

"You alright love" Klaus asks

"He's got a temper doesn't he"

Nikki can see Klaus wants to reply just as much as she does but the two of them keep quiet.

"I guess this is the moment i realize i know better" Cami replies before turning to look at Nikki "I'll see you at home"

"Love you" Nikki says to her back as she walks off before turning back to look at Marcel still arguing with the guy "What a dick"

"You know him" Klaus asks

"I know of him" she shrugs "I wanted to warn Cami but i know she likes him, I'm hoping she gives him another chance as she deserves happiness and yeah maybe not with him but she does like him"

"You care a lot for her"

"She's my cousin, I'd die for her"

Klaus goes silent and the two of them look back up to see a guy hand Marcel an envelope and the argument seems to step up a few notches. Nikki had heard that Marcel was the self appointed leader of the french quarter and looking at him now she got the senses that if anything it was the complete truth. Soon the argument ends and the guy Marcel was arguing with is lead down the stairs, she notices it as Thierry, a friend of sorts to her.

"Come on love, i'll walk you home"

Nikki nods and allows Klaus to lead her from the room and behind Marcel and the others. Klaus soon stops her though at the doorway and Nikki hears chanting and looks to see Katie, the owner of the Voodoo shop walking down the street chanting. Thierry shouts to Katie but it seems to make her worse and she raises a hand and swipes it in an across motion and Nikki watches as the lights explode and Marcel and his group of people drop to the floor holding their heads.

"What's happening?" She asks Klaus

"I don't know love" he replies, not one inch of concern covering his face.

Nikki watches in horror as the chanting continues and Katie keeps swiping her hands from side to side, exploding lights and causing the bodies of Marcel and his people to drop to the floor. Nikki didn't know how she knew it was Katie doing it but considering it all happened as Katie did something she guessed. Her eyes widen as Katie continues and Marcel fights towards her but is floored by what seems to be his legs breaking. Marcel stands up again and pounds his chest.

"You here to save your man" he taunts "Well come on little girl"

He charges at Katie but she lifts her hand dropping him to the floor before raising her other hand which has a slither of wood in it.

"Die you son of a bitch"

Nikki's eyes widen and scream almost leaves her lips but before it can she sees Klaus stood behind Katie and he snaps her neck. Her scream catches in her throat as she watches Thierry crawl over to Katie pulling him into his arms as the others all begin to stand up, each of them groaning in pain.

Marcel and Klaus share a nod before Klaus is walking back over to her.

"Wh...What was that"

"Nothing you need to worry about love" he replies

"How the fuck is it nothing for me to worry about"

He grabs her chin and pulls it to face him, her eyes locking with his.

"Go home, do not tell anyone about what happened here tonight. I will explain it to you another time"

Klaus lets her chin go and with one last look at the dead woman lying in her lovers arms she walks down the street towards her house. Questions brewing inside her mind as to what the bloody hell she had just walked into.


	4. Bump to the head

It had been nearly a week since the actions at the masquerade party and Nikki felt as though she was going out of her mind. Every waking and sleeping moment was clouded by what she saw playing over and over again on repeat yet she couldn't do anything about it. She knew Cami was worried about her, knew she was hiding something but every time Nikki tried to tell her a lump caught in her throat and she couldn't spit it out. She hated it, she hated keeping things from her cousin, the one person who always helped her when things were playing on her mind. She even thought it was because it was Cami and tried to tell Sophie but the same thing happened again.

It left her feeling as though she was going crazy, it affected how she was working and had Sophie and Cami shouting at her to get her head into gear and stop messing up the orders. She was kind of glad that half of the customers they got were already drunk so wouldn't really care about the bartender being halfway to crazyville.

She sighs as she finishes brushing her hair and looks into the mirror to see large bags under her eyes barely concealed by her foundation, her eyes looked dull and lifeless and she looked as though she would fall asleep at any moment. But there was nothing she could do, she'd tried everything and unless Klaus told her what the hell happened that night, like he said he would, people were just going to have to deal with her new look.

She leans over and grabs her black flats slipping them on to complete her dark jeans and Grey tank top before turning to reach for her red apron and name tag before walking out of her room and through the quiet hallways to the kitchen. Sighing loudly into the silence she decides to head to work early and turns on the balls of her feet and walks out the house locking the door behind her, secretly praying that Cami took her keys to University with her.

Walking the streets of the French Quarter Nikki can't help her eyes roaming the faces of everyone she passes, just like she has done for the last week. Her eyes looking for the one person who could answer the tirade of questions in her head. Klaus. But just like with every day beforehand he isn't anywhere to be seen, he hasn't even come into the bar as Nikki asked Cami and Sophie both. Though Nikki saw that Sophie was more bothered about her asking for Klaus then Cami was but she brushed it off, she wanted answers.

Slipping into the side door of Rosseau's she says Sophie in the kitchen beginning the days cooking and smiles.

"Hey Soph" she hollers as she walks behind the bar to set down her stuff

"Hey Nik" she replies "Manage to sleep yet?"

"Nah it alluded me again" she replies

"You sure you don't want me to mix you up a herbal tea" Sophie asks coming to stop at the doors separating the kitchen from the bar, watching as Nikki begins to place the chairs back on the floor.

"I don't do herbs Soph, I told ya that" she Nikki chuckles throwing an amused look over her shoulder "I'll be fine, promise"

Sophie goes to reply but stops as another voice enters the fray, Nikki looks over to see Sophie's friend Sabine walk in. Sabine was one of those people that commanded a room when she walked into it, it seemed almost fitting that she commanded the tours of the quarter. Tourists couldn't get enough of the knowledge Sabine knew about the town and drank it all up like it was the only drink they had ever had in their life.

"Hey Soph,Nikki"

"Sabine" Nikki nods politely before returning to her job

Out the corner of her eye she sees the two walk into the kitchen and shut the door partially but ignores it and walks over to the bar to begin stocking the shelves ready for the emptying later. After about five minutes she hears a scuffle in the kitchen and turns to see what it is but jumps as she sees someone wearing all black including a black mask over their faces.

"What the..."

She doesn't get to finish the question before her head is being hit off the bar.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Nikki groans as her consciousness comes back and a soft voice speaks above her.

"Now now love, take it easy"

A hand grabs Nikki's and pulls her to her feet before pulling her into a chest allowing her to get her bearings. When she can see straight without the sensation of being sick she looks up to see Klaus smirking down at her.

"Enjoy your nap"

"What the hell just happened" she asks, her mind flicking back to the person in all black

"That is what my brother is attempting to find out" he replies pointing to the kitchen whilst leading her to one of the bar stools. "Now sit here whilst i join in the conversation"

She drops onto the bar stool and leans her head on the bar tilted towards he kitchen as she sees Klaus and a tall man in a suit talking to Sabine. Her eyes are drawn to the man in the suit as she watches him interact with Sabine. As he turns to lean against the doorway, a small gasp leaves her lips as she sees his face.

It was another one of the men from her dream, she couldn't remember his name or how he was linked, it being so long since she had the dream, but she could clearly remember the strong lines of his face as he laid knocked out on the forest floor. He doesn't see her sat at the bar-stool and turns again to talk to Sabine.

Nikki watches the conversation continue for a further five minutes before Sabine walks away from the brothers and over to her.

"Sorry for dragging you into this Nikki" she sighs

"Don't worry about it" Nikki replies a small smile lifting the corners of her lips "I seem to be getting dragged into a lot of stuff recently"

"Oh don't say it like that love"

Nikki and Sabine look to see Klaus walking over and Sabine throws her one more smile before leaving the bar. Nikki watches as Klaus walks behind the bar and helps himself to a bottle of scotch, his blue eyes trained on her.

"We do not have time for a drink brother"

The voice of the other man sends chills down Nikki's spine as each word slips over his skin as soft as a lovers caress. She tries not to shiver whilst keeping her gaze level on Klaus but due to the changes to his smirk she knows he saw her little slip.

"I am merely checking on the innocent party who got caught up in the ordeal" Klaus replies smoothly his attention moving to his brother "Elijah, this is Nicolette, she is the bartender here"

Nikki looks over at Elijah and notices his eyes widen and his jaw drop as he stares back at her. She gulps slightly as he regains some of his posture and his eyes look her up and down before settling back on her face. If it wasn't for the fact he was quite good looking she would have been freaked.

"Nice to meet you" she says to break the silence

Elijah shakes his head before walking over to her, he grabs her hand lifting it to his lips placing a chaste kiss to her knuckles.

"Likewise" he replies "Are you sure you're okay"

"I've had worse bumps to the head" she shrugs "Though i'd love to know who knocked me out so i could do it back to them, but worse"

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it" Klaus says "We are going to talk to the person responsible now"

"And i take it i have to sit here, be good and wait for you to explain things to me" she drawls sarcastically whilst lifting an eyebrow

Klaus chuckles at her attitude, it being the same as he remembered from a thousand years ago. She may act more innocent then Nicolette of his past but there was no denying she was her. The looks, the attitude and the way she wasn't scared of him were the first few giveaways but the more he spent around her the more he knew she was his sister in law not just some doppelganger.

"I will explain it to you, i promise"

"Yeah if i haven't already been booked into an insane asylum by then"

A chuckle at her side has her lifting her eyes to Elijah to see him amused, she smiles weakly before dropping her eyes to the bar. His gaze was too intense, it made her feel as though all her dirty secrets were there in the open for him to see. It wasn't something she was used to.

"Right we better be off" Klaus says clapping his hands "See you later Nicolette"

"Bye"

"It was a pleasure meeting you" Elijah says kindly making her eyes snap to his again

"And you" she nods "Hopefully I'll see you again soon and you can tell me how you put up with him as a brother"

The two brothers laugh as they leave Nikki sitting at the bar and when she hears the door shut behind them she finally lets out the breathe she had been holding during the first meeting. She stays seated on the bar-stool as she tries to understand the new revelations dumped on her but they just end up jumbled up with the others leaving her more questions then answers.

"I'm defiantly going crazy" she mumbles before jumping off the bar-stool and returning to work.


End file.
